James of Nowhere
by FantasyFan5813
Summary: James is an ordinary page hoping to become a knight, but his life is changed when he comes to the castle. Will he be able to go on as a normal page? Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1: Coming to the Castle

A.N. Hi, everyone! I'm a new Fanfiction author, and this is my first story, so if you would review with constructive criticism it would be welcome. So here goes:

James looked up wonderingly at the majestic castle before him. He would be living here! James was a slight boy of eleven, with black hair and unusual golden eyes. He lived in Tortall under the reign of King Jonathan and Queen Thayet.

"He was going to be a knight!"

The thought struck James like a ray of sunshine, filling him with pride, finally, he was going to show his dad that he was strong enough, that he would earn his place among the knights.

"Hurry up boy," shouted Gregory, James' father, "Get a move on! I want to be home by tomorrow."

James sighed and trekked forward slowly, following his father to the soaring gates of to castle keep. Gregory stomped into the courtyard, and began to look for someone who looked to be in charge. Seeing no one he snapped at a stable hand and sent him running for the looming castle. James sighed and looked away, he didn't like how his father bossed people around. A minute later the stable hand came back into the courtyard. Following him was none other than the great Lord Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak. James suppressed a gasp of astonishment. He smiled to himself, knowing from the stories that this man could bring his father down a notch, if anyone could.

"Hello," Raoul boomed, "I was told that someone was waiting for me, I assume that was you, sir?"

"It was! I had to wait a good deal of time before you came, and I demand and explanation!"

Raoul winked at James, and for a minute he looked like a mischievous child.

"Well, sir, I was simply going to talk to the King about some very important things, and you have interrupted me. No problem I suppose, I'll talk to Jon later. . . " Raoul let his sentence trail off.

Gregory seemed shaken by the knights casual use of the King's nickname, used only by his closest friends. Apparently, he had not known that he as in the company of a close friend of the King.

"Oh, I- well. . . sir, I didn't know. . . my son. . ." Gregory gestured inarticulately at James.

"Ah! New page! Are you excited?"

James nodded vigorously, "Yes, sir! Do you know when lessons start?"

"They start once all of the pages get here. Now, What is your name?"

"James."

"Nice to meet you James," Raoul shook James's hand with a huge hand that engulfed James's. "I will show you to your quarters, and if your father would like to join us he may."

Gregory looked at James for a long minute, debating. Finally he nodded curtly, and James almost leapt for joy. However much his father lacked, when he did little things like this, it made James happy, because it was so rare.

James followed Raoul eagerly into the castle. He entered into a grand entry hall, and James was sure he had never seen something as large as this. The hall was made to be welcoming for guests, but the big wooden gate, and the iron portcullis showed strength, and clearly the castle could defend itself. Raoul led the way purposefully through the castle, weaving around people, animals, and through a maze of hallways. James was soon lost, and Gregory looked completely baffled. Eventually, the throng of people lessened, until they came to a completely empty hallway.

"This is it. And don't worry James, it'll get more crowded."

James grinned sheepishly, wondering how Raoul had known exactly hat he was thinking. Along the doors in the hallway there was a board on the wall, with names written in chalk on them. James walked eagerly along the hallway, looking for his name, Raoul smiled and turned to Gregory, "Sir, I know not your name, but I can tell by the way your son looks at you that he adores you, but he thinks you are a bully, which is very correct from what the stablehand told me. Let me tell you that you will have a bad influence on him if you continue to act in this way. James is a good boy, don't taint it."

Gregory looked affronted by this accusation, "No such thing, sir! I don't care who you are! I will not be insulted in this way!" James looked up, intrigued, as his father continued to shout. "If you want to insult me so I shall take my son and be gone from here!" Gregory roughly grabbed James's arm and began to drag him away.

"No." James said the word to his father for the first time in his life. Gregory stepped back, startled.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said, no. I want to stay here. I like it, and I want to be a knight."

Gregory took a step back, staring at James in shock, "James, come with me, right now."

James swallowed, "No, Father. I like it here."

"Fine then. I see how it is." He looked to Raoul, "This is no son of mine. He shall be disinherited, and his title shall be stripped from him." He turned his glare one last time to his son, "Goodbye. Never look to come back. I never want to see you again."

Gregory spun on his heel and stormed down the hallway. James watched him go, tears streaming unchecked down his face. Raoul looked at the boy with concern in his eyes, the boy was only eleven!

"Is there anything I can do, James?"

James shook hid head, "No sir, I'll be okay. I- I suppose it had to happen eventually." He wiped the tears from his face and sniffed. "Which one is my room?" He asked, his voice still glum.

Raoul pointed to a door at the end of the hall, opposite from where James had been looking earlier, "Right there. James. . . I'm so sorry."

James shrugged, "It's alright. He was always bossing me around. I just don't know how I'll pay for school. Is there anything I can do? Could I work in the stables after lessons, to pay for my keep?"

Raoul shook his head, "No. I shall pay for your school. This is my fault, so I will pay."

James looked surprised, I don't think so, sir! I will work, it's no problem. . ."

Raoul sighed, "If you feel you must, I will let you work."

James nodded, "Thanks you, sir, I wouldn't feel comfortable if you paid."

"You needn't call me 'sir' all the time, to you I will be Raoul."

"Alright. . . Raoul. If you don't mind, I might get my things all settled. What shall I call myself? I can't go by James of Greenvale. . . ah, well, I'll just go by James, and not give a surname. . ."

James walked slowly into his room, with Raoul watching the boy with pity and a hint of pride at James's braveness, then he sighed, and walked down the hall to talk to Jon.

James walked into his new room, which was very bare, but he knew that once he put his own touches, it would become home. I guess this is home now, as I don't have another one. One last tear ran down his face, then he wiped it away, and vowed to never shed another tear for his lost family. James looked up when he heard a knock at the door. "Hello? Are you a new page, too?" The voice came from the door.

James spun around, "Um, yes. What's your name?"

"I'm Colin of Whitehorn. What about you?"

I'm James."

Colin looked a little confused, but he said nothing, just reached out his hand to shake James'.

"So, how far did you come?" Colin asked innocently.

So maybe he's more curious than he lets on, James thought.

"I come from between Naxen and Trebond." James said.

"Oh, cool." Colin cleared his throat, "Have you met any of the other boys?"

James shook his head, "No. I wasn't aware there was anyone here yet."

"We must have been at lunch when you arrived."

James heaved a sigh of relief, realizing that no one had heard the quarrel that lost him his name. "Well, I may as well come with you, Where is everyone?"

"This way." Colin waked out into the hallway, "Let's see, there's Alistair, he's kind, a bit gruff, but good hearted, there's Carson. he's pretty quiet, Drew, he's the prankster, and he's also pretty smart, me of course, then Reeve, he's strong, already had some combat training, he's on the border, can you imagine? Fighting before you are even trained? Here we are. Time to meet the rest of the pages!"

Colin pushed open the doors into a big library. There were tables in the middle of the room, two long ones and four or five smaller ones. Along the walls were more books than James had ever seen in his entire life. Around one of the smaller tables, four boys were gathered over a book, reading over each others shoulders. One was brown haired, with light gray eyes and a slight smile playing across his lips. Another, beside the first boy, and he had untidy blonde hair, serious blue-green eyes, and a very lean, well muscled body. James guessed that this one was Reeve, the fighter. The third boy had reddish brown hair, with deep blue eyes, his face was calm, and immediately James thought he would be the underdog. The last boy was sitting in a chair leaning back on two legs, he had very dark brown hair, almost black, and dancing green eyes. James was uneasy, here came the introductions.

"Hey, guys. This is James. He's a new page, too." Colin walked over to the other boys. "James, this is Reeve of Dunlath." He gestured to the blonde boy.

"Hi," said Reeve, "Where're you from?"

James swallowed, "Between Naxen and Trebond."

"Well, nice to meet you, James." Reeve shook James' and and sat back down.

"OK," Colin continued, "This is-"

"Colin, I think we can introduce ourselves," said the dark haired boy, his green eyes glinting jokingly, "I'm Drew of Malmstad."

"I'm Carson of Whitehorn."

"I'm Alistair of Nalicot."

James nodded to them, "Nice to meet you."

"So," said Drew, "You didn't really tell us where you are from. 'Between Naxen and Trebond' isn't good enough! I can't yell, 'Hey! You! Between Naxen and Trebond!'"

Everyone laughed, but James felt uneasy, he felt like he had to tell the truth to thee boys if he was going to have friends.

"Nowhere. I don't belong anywhere anymore," James stated quietly.

The laughter immediately stopped.

"What do you mean?" asked Carson.

James swallowed, "My dad and I arrived at the castle not an hour ago, and my dad was pretty upset because the ride took longer than he thought it would. Then Raoul came out and made my dad feel guilty, I think, for making him feel like he was a bad father, and he just got very angry. He told me to come with him, but I refused. I really want to be a knight, you know. He told me I was to be stripped of my titles, and that I was no son of his, so I should never go to my home again."

The other boys stared, then Carson smacked Colin on the back of the head. "You dolt! How did you not see that he was upset! You made him come meet us, too!"

Colin looked around, "Well, I didn't know!"

"Settle down you two. James, I'm sorry. You will always be welcome in Malmstad," said Drew.

James face turned red, "No, no. I can't put this on you. I will be able to stay here and work. Don't worry about me."

The boys all protested, but James finally convinced them that he would be alright. He could tell that the others still weren't convinced, but they seemed to know that James wouldn't budge.

"Does anyone know then lessons start?" James asked, changing the subject.

"I think they start in three days. I wonder who'll sponsor us?"

It was Reeve who answered, "I honestly don't know who the older pages are."

Everyone laughed, "I don't really either. With Kel of Mindelan just being knighted, I've completely lost track."

"Well, I guess we'll see, huh?" said Carson.

Everyone agreed then left the library to check out their new rooms.

Colin walked over to James, "Can you get back?"

James nodded, even though he knew he'd get lost. "I'll be fine, I want to walk around a bit anyway."

James emerged into the bright sunlight, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. He wanted to visit the stables, for he had heard they were wonderful. Apparently the pages even got to pick their own horses! James sighed. I probably will get last pick. He trudged his way to the stables anyway.

When James finally reached the stables, he looked around in wonder. So these were the stables, James felt immediately at home. He walked up and down the aisle, looking at the horses that were in the stalls. He assumed that these horses were for the pages, there were only eight of them. James wondered idly who the other two boys were. He walked farther down the row and saw a ninth horse. This horse was beautiful. James didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, but judging by the soft brown gaze looking at him, e guessed it was a mare. This was the most perfect horse James had ever seen, with a pale gold coat, and a black mane, and black socks on all four feet.

"Careful there, boy! That stallion c'n be wild!"

James looked around for the speaker.

"'M up here, boy!" said the voice again.

James looked up, and there in the hayloft, was an old man. "Hello, sir!" called James, "Do you mean this horse here?"

The man nodded his gray head, "Aye. When he wants ta, this'n c'n be wild."

James looked again at the kind eyes that were still gazing at him, "Huh. I wouldn't have guessed."

The man climbed down the ladder with surprising agility, "Sure. He looks right kind now, but 'e c'n get a wee bit testy."

James smiled to himself, amused by the man's street accent. He reached out to the horse, and the horse leaned his proud head down to be patted. James stroked him gently, murmuring to him, "It's alright, boy, I won't hurt you."

The old man abruptly stretched out his hand "Name's Stefan. How'd you clam down that horse so quick, boy?"

James shook Stefan's hand, "Dunno, sir. I like animals." James shrugged, "He was looking pretty friendly anyway."

Stefan nodded slowly, "Alright. Well, mebbe you better get goin'"

"OK." James said slowly. He headed toward the door, and when he was almost out of earshot of Stefan, he heard him mumble something that sounded like:

"Well, Stardust, mebbe that'n will keep you from the dogs, eh?"

The horse, Stardust, snorted, and then James was out of earshot. Huh. That horse is going to the dogs? That's so sad! But why did the old man talk to him like he was a person? Do all people do that? Maybe I don't know enough about animals. James shook his head, and walked back into the castle to meet his friends.


	2. Chapter 2: Fights and Sponsors

**Hey everyone! In the first Alanna book, who picks on Alanna? I forgot his name so I didn't add it. I'd like to know if anyone knows it, because I'd like to use it. I'm gonna set one 'rule' I need five reviews before I update. All right, that's all. Enjoy!**

James walked back into the castle, and immediately got lost. he didn't really remember how Raoul had gotten him to the pages quarters earlier, and he had wandered around a bit before he went to the stables. He sighed and chose a direction. As he walked along, he found himself thinking of that poor horse, Stardust, _It was like he was trying to tell me something, but what? Stefan said he could get 'testy.' What does that mean? Should I take him as my horse? He seemed kind enough._

A sudden noise brought James out of his musings. It sounded like running feet. James took a step forward, curious. Just then Colin came hurtling around the corner, a look of terror on his face. Behind him came a brawny boy, looking like an older page, "Get back here, scum!" He screamed.

Colin ran past, and as the bigger boy made to run past as well, James stuck out his foot. It was a childishly easy defense, but it worked. The bully came tumbling down at James' feet. He looked up at James and growled. James took a step back and ran into the wall. He was trapped.

The bully grinned, "What's your problem, page?" he asked.

James stood erect, "You can't call me page when you are one yourself!" he said bravely. he felt like he should be more afraid, but he felt OK, good even. His blood was pumping, and he felt light on his feet.

The bully snarled, "You calling me a page?"

"Obviously," James said, rolling his eyes.

This was too much. The boy lunged forward, swinging his fist at James, who ducked out of the way. He managed to swing his foot forward, and knock the boy to his knees again. He moved swiftly to the middle of the corridor. The boy staggered to his feet once more. he lunged forward again, but at the last second, he moved his fist on a curious S shape. Somehow James managed to dodge the blow, and he swung back his fist and punched the other boy in the face, knowing that the boy would have a black eye the next day. His opponent gasped and reeled back.

"Fine." He spat, "You won this one. You will regret this one day boy. You'll wish you never met Stephen of Tirrsmont!"

James shuddered, something about this name seemed familiar, but he wasn't sure why. . . "Will I? What exactly will I regret?"

"You will wish you had never been born." Stephen glared daggers at James, and James glared right back.

"Right." James snorted, "The only thing I will regret is getting scum on my boots." James spun on his heel and walked down the corridor. He heard a low oath, and knew in an instant that Stephen would charge him.

He was right. He heard muffled footsteps, and he spun around, thrusting the heel of his hand into Stephen's jaw. He heard a low crack, and Stephen crumpled without a sound. He turned again and strode forward. He took a left to the next hallway division, and came face-to-face with Colin and the other pages.

He cleared his throat, "Hi everyone."

They just gawked.

What?" mumbled James, uncomfortable.

Colin burst forth, breaking the silence "You just took out a third year squire!" he exclaimed, awestruck.

"Did I?" James asked, bemused.

Reeve spoke this time, "You did. Colin said he saw it all. Did you really break his jaw?"

James shrugged, "Maybe. I've never fought before, so I don't know." James stated honestly.

The boys gaped again. "You've never fought?" asked Alistair incredulously.

James shook his head.

"HAHA! That ought to teach that squire!" Whooped Drew, his eyes glinting.

The other boys remained silent, so quiet that James started to feel uneasy.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

Reeve answered again, "Nah. We're just in shock. That's pretty amazing, what you did. We'll get over it." He grinned, and the mood abruptly lightened.

James grinned too, relieved. He felt odd, though. Why hadn't he been afraid? Usually he was polite and easy-tempered. But he had felt so in control just then, so strong. Somehow he had known exactly what to do, and he hadn't had to think about anything. Should_ I have been afraid? The other boys think so. I'm never mean, so why could I toss out insults like that? Why could I hurt someone else?_ The thoughts kept running through his head in a never-ending circle, neither answered nor forgotten.

"When's dinner? I'm starved!" Carson exclaimed, breaking James out of his reverie.

"I dunno! I'm as new here as you are, O wise one!" Mocked Colin.

The playful banter continued, and James found himself joining in, all of his complicated thoughts pushed away, for the time being.

Eventually the boys made their way back to the page's wing. They washed up before dinner, and when they cam out, there was a group of boys waiting in the corridor. They were all much bigger than James, and he felt his muscles tense, preparing for these boys to be friends of Stephen's. None of them looked tense, in fact they all looked very much at ease. One of them glanced at James and winked.

James grinned back in spite of himself, and relaxed a little. Then Sir Gareth the Younger of Naxen stepped forward. "Hello, boys!" he said, smiling kindly to the new pages.

"Good evening, sir!" They responded cheerily. Sir Gareth had a way of making people comfortable.

"Today, sponsors will be chosen," he continued, "I want your full names and I want to know why you came here. All right?"

The boys all nodded, and Colin and Carson threw sympathetic glances to James who sighed.

"Ok, starting with you." Sir Gareth pointed to Reeve.

"My name is Reeve of Dunlath, and came here because I want to become a knight and fight at the borders with my father and brothers before me."

"Thank you Reeve. Now, who would like to sponsor Reeve?"

One boy stepped forward, "I will. I've had brothers knighted as well." He smiled at Reeve, who stepped to the older pages side, "I'm Peter of Tyria."

Next was Colin, he gave his name and reasons and was sponsored by Toly of Ferrard. Carson was after him, and was quickly sponsored by Toly's twin, Turstin. Alistair went before James. He was sponsored by Hugh of Scart's Peak. Then it was James' turn.

"I'm James and I came here to be a knight. I want to fight for my King and Queen, and I want to explore the lands." he skipped as fast as he could from his name to his reason for wanting to be here. Gareth; unfortunately, noticed this.

"Where are you from James?" he asked kindly.

James looked down, "Nowhere." he mumbled.

"Sorry?"

"I- I'm not from anywhere." James said, still quiet.

There was an uncomfortable silence, then the boy who had winked at James earlier spoke up, "I'll sponsor him, sir."

Gareth looked up, "All right."

The boy grinned at James, "I'm Frederick of Sadilia." he said cheerfully.

James grinned halfheartedly, "Nice meeting you."

Gareth cleared his throat, "All right boys! Time to go to dinner! Eat a good amount, you'll be starting lesson tomorrow!" The boys cheered, and the sponsors started to lead them to the dining hall.

"James," said Gareth quietly, "I'm sorry to put you on the spot like that. I didn't know. . ."

James smiled a little, "Don't worry, sir. I'll be alright. Raoul will tell you about it if you ask I'm sure."

Gareth nodded, "Thank you."

Then Frederick sauntered up, "Ready for your first meal at the castle, page?" he asked jokingly.

"You bet!" James exclaimed. He walked to the dining hall with Frederick telling him all about the castle. And so James headed off for his first meal of thousands he would eat here. He was ready to be a page!


	3. Chapter 3: First Dinner

Chapter Three

**OK, I'm a little sad, I only got two reviews. Thanks to Lady Lunar and Iwantaponygal1993 for reviewing. So, here's the deal, I would love to have more reviews, but I won't force it. Basically, I really want to write, so I'm gonna. Here you go, Chapter Three!**

James walked into the huge dining hall and saw the pages, squires, and even a few knights crowded into the room. There was a high table at the end of the hall, for the instructors and the King and Queen. James followed Frederick over the the far right side of the room, where the other pages were already gathered.

"Hi, everyone!" bellowed Frederick, "I finally got myself a first year!" Several third year squires burst into cheers, saying things like, "Way to go Fred!" and "Don't hurt him!" Apparently, these were Frederick's friends. James shook his head and went to sit by Colin and Carson. Frederick plopped into the seat next to him, "Hey, hey, hey! No page of mine's going to be sitting without me!"

James grinned at him, "What do you mean by pages of yours? According to you, I'm your first!"

Frederick smiled back, "Well, maybe. You aren't sitting without me, regardless."

"Hi, I'm Colin," said Colin, leaning past James to see the older squire.

"Subtle," James murmured under his breath. Colin flashed him a quick smile.

"Frederick."

"So are lessons hard?"

This really got Frederick on edge, "You don't know the half of it! They make us get up at a cursed hour. . ." He continued ranting until James interrupted.

"So why are you still here?"

"It's the best thing that ever happened to me!" exclaimed Frederick, "It's brilliant here!"

Colin shook his head, as bemused as James was. He opened his mouth to comment when he as interrupted by a voice calling for order.

The King stood on the dais, waiting for the clamor of the dining hall to calm down. Once everyone realized that the King was waiting to speak, the noise died instantly.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome pages, and welcome back everyone else." The King's booming voice rang through the hall. "Now, lessons are going to start tomorrow, so everyone be ready." The whole room looked at the new pages with a grin on their faces. The King continued, "Well, I don't have a lot more to say, so I'll pass it on to Sir Gareth."

Gareth stepped forward and addressed the room, "For those of you who are new here, you have lessons tomorrow morning, and training in the afternoon. Your sponsors will inform you more later. There are a few rules you must be aware of, absolutely no fighting is tolerated, and you are expected to be clean and presentable at meals and during your lessons. Also, you must always respect your elders, and heed their words."

He stepped down from the podium with no further ado and the King got back up and bade them all to eat saying, "I know it's no fun to wait for your meal. Go on, eat!"

Everyone dug in. James ate his fill, and when the meal was done, Frederick winked at him. "Good eats, huh?" James smiled, "Yeah, really good." Conversation was interrupted then by a bell signaling the end of dinner.

Frederick got up and grinned, "Alright, page." He said, "I'm going to see if you learned anything! Take us back to the pages' wing."

James sighed and began the trek through the castle. He knew this was a test, and he was eager to prove himself. He closed his eyes for a second, and led the way to the right out of the dining hall. From there, it was two rights, a left, a long hallway with doors lining the walls, and one more left before they finally reached the pages' wing. James smiled, proud of himself. "Ha!" He exclaimed.

Frederick looked around and sighed, "Fine, good job." He brightened up, "Must have been my amazing teaching skills!" He crowed.

James laughed, "That's it!" He said.

Frederick bade James goodnight and headed off to his room. James did likewise in preparation for the next day.


	4. Chapter 4: First Day of Training

**Well, be surprised, I'm updating really quickly. I'll try to keep up better from now on. Thank you to Kasper Lassie, elf warrior princess, Talla Sparks, wAstxd1sYmPhOny, SpaceHead, and iwantaponygal1933 for reviewing! I got a lot this time, and lots of good reviews. OK, so does anyone know how to get a beta reader? If so, please pm or review with answers. Also, who is the page/squire who picks on Alanna in the first book and becomes Claw later on?**

James heard to the sound of a bell. He looked around, disoriented. _His father's angry face loomed before him saying, "This is no son of mine." In his delirious state, James realized things he hadn't pondered the day before. Gregory had never wanted him as a son. He had always pampered James' sisters, Avis and Clare. He had always been looked down on. Why? Didn't all fathers wish for a son?_

James started when the bell rang again. He wasn't sure if he had heard it earlier, it had entered into his dreams, but he didn't know if they were real. He rolled out of bed, feeling as if a heavy weight was upon his shoulders. He washed quickly and pulled on his wool trousers and his best wool tunic. He walked out of his room and nearly bumped into Reeve, who stood in front of his door, and raised. "Oh, hi." said Reeve, "I was just going to get you. Everyone's heading down to breakfast."

James nodded, tension and excitement putting knots in his stomach. "Let's go then." he said, his voice coming out hoarse. Reeve grinned, understanding James' excitement, and led the way to the other boys, who were around the corner. They all headed down to the dining hall, where they met up with their sponsors. Frederick led the way to the plates and piled up on food, and James followed behind, grabbing only a piece of bread and a little meat.

"You're going to want more than that, kid. Trust me." said Frederick, eying James' plate, "You'll starve if you don't get more."

James sighed and plied some bacon and ham onto his plate. When Frederick nodded, they continued on to the table. Once all of them were seated, the boys dug in with ravenous appetites. All except James and Colin. James felt sick to his stomach, maybe he should have gone home with his father! _No._ A part of him argued, _you never would have been happy there. You have a chance here!_ Still, James couldn't eat. He picked apart his roll and watched the pile of food on Frederick's plate disappear at an alarming rate. Frederick glanced at him, "Eat, kid! I'm telling you! You don't start eating, I'll shove it down your throat!"

James gulped and ate a couple pieces of bacon and his mutilated roll. It helped him feel a little better, and it made him laugh when Frederick force fed Colin, who had a look of utter panic on his face. Breakfast ended surprisingly quickly, and then the sponsors took the first years to the clothing wing. It was where all of the clothes were mended and fitted. Frederick led James to a grumpy-looking man who quickly took his measurements and piled clothes into James' arms. That done James' ran to his room to quickly change clothes and go to his first class, which was starting later that usual on account of the pages who had just gotten there. His first class was Mathematics, a subject James had never studied before. The numbers were familiar though, from when Gregory had shown him how to count once, grudgingly. The numbers all made sense to him, for which he was grateful. Next he moved on to History, and a multitude of other classes. Finally the last bell rang for lunch.

"Wow!" exclaimed James, "When will we ever have time to do all our homework?" Already he felt stressed and overburdened.

"Aw, don't worry. We get time at night, and usually there are study groups."

James nodded and dug into his food. Once lunch was over they headed out to the training area.

The training master, Conall of Villefort directed them to a dirt ring that had a lot of scuff marks on the ground. The boys all got into two lines and waited for further instruction.

"Alright boys, pair up!"

There was a scramble to listen, as boys snatched for someone they knew as a partner. Colin and Carson paired up, Alistair and Frederick, Toly and Turstin, and James and Reeve. James gulped. Of course he got Reeve, the best of all the boys. Oh, well. At least they were friends. Conall walked down the line distributing wooden staffs. James got his and weighed it in his hands, getting used to the way it felt.

"Alright, we are going to start with a high strike, high block. One partner will strike, the other block, and then switch. Now to hold the staff in the proper block. . ." From there he continued to instruct them on the proper way to hold the staffs, and how to shift their hands from block to strike, and strike to block. The boys switched off, and James soon got into the rhythm of _block, strike, block, strike_. Occasionally, there would be a yelp from someone who got his fingers rapped. As they progressed, the yelps got more and more frequent, when the tempo started to pick up. _Strike, block, strike, block_. Reeve never faltered, and James did his best to keep up. He felt like Reeve was holding back, not really trying. They sped even faster. James was sweating now, his arms shaking. The blows got harder, or was James getting more tired?

"Halt!"

James sighed and stopped mid-strike. There was a clatter as Toly whipped up his stick to block Turstin's last strike.

"Well, boys not bad. Not bad at all. Next thing we are going to do is ride. I want everyone to go and choose a horse. Choose wisely, this will be your horse all of your page years and most likely during your times as squires as well. Go."

The boys ran, fast as they could, toward the stables, none of them wanting to be the last to pick. James ran with them, debating with himself. Stardust, or another horse? he shrugged and ran faster, overtaking everyone else. He was the first to the stables.

"Yer a page then boy?" Stefan's voice came from above, and James peered into the gap in the ceiling to where the hay was kept.

"Yessir."

"Well, then boy, can I ask ye a favor? Will ye please take Stardust? He's a young'un and I know he likes ye, and ye'll be good to 'im."

James paused for a moment, then made his decision, "Of course!" he exclaimed and ran down the aisle to where Stardust was looking over his stall door. "Hey boy," he said, reaching to pat the horse. Stardust leaned against his hand and nickered in pleasure.

Just then, all the other boys came pounding in, racing to find the best mounts. James walked over to the tack room to find Stardust's tack. FInally, everyone had their horses ready and saddled. Conall called for the order to ride out.

"Alright, boys, this is a test run to see how well you ride. Move on now!"

The boys spurred their mounts on and rode through the forest. It was nice to get the feel of their horses before real combat training on them. James got used to the swinging gait that Stardust had. He was a great horse to ride, smooth and careful, but he kept up easily with long legs.

When they rode back to the stables, James took care of Stardust and went back to the castle for dinner. As they ate James again voiced his concerns about the homework load hat awaited him.

"Stop worrying!" exclaimed Frederick, "You'll get it done. Study time is after this."

They finished dinner and went to study. James went into his room with all of his new friends, and they got most of their work done. They were all stuck on one problem in math, and they went to Frederick's room for help. James smiled as he went to bed that night. He felt he could handle all of the strains that the castle would present to him.


	5. Attenion!

**Hi guys. I'll bet that you are mad at me for not writing. I'm sorry. I haven't been able to write, and I won't be able to write all summer, because when I saved my story, I saved it under a program that I don't have on the computer I'm using now, and I can't even open it. Again, I'm really sorry. When I do finally update, I'll replace the new chapter for this Author's Note.**


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